AUSTRALIA
The Australian
Pia Akerman
From:The Australian
December 17, 2012
A SURVIVOR of child sexual abuse has called for the Catholic Church to embrace a new style of compensating victims by paying for their medical treatment, in a scheme similar to the war veterans’ Gold Card.
Peter Blenkiron, who was 11 years old when he was abused by a priest at school in Ballarat, has put forward the idea as he prepares to give evidence next year to the Victorian government’s inquiry into how organisations, including the church, have dealt with abuse claims against them.
“The church has an ethical responsibility to keep these people alive,” Mr Blenkiron said. “The Australian taxpayers should not bear this cost.”
The “church-related injuries”, or CRI card, as Mr Blenkiron calls it, would help ensure victims receive psychological support to assist their healing and cut the high number of suicides related to child sexual abuse.
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